Preserving the Harvest - Simple Freezing Tips

Freezing vegetables, fruits and herbs is very easy and rewarding.
Less nutrients are lost by freezing than canning your produce and it takes just a bit of preparation.

Here are four examples of how to prepare your harvest for freezing.

• Peaches were in season and seemed to be in the Farmer's Markets until the late summer. At the last week of the season I picked up ten pounds of peaches.
  To freeze them i simply washed them well and dried them. Then I froze the peaches whole in a freezer bag.
  

Some might prefer to skin the peaches first. That requires quickly dipping them in boiled water and removing the skin. But really there is no harm to having their skins on.
This will our Peach Cobbler, a special treat for the holidays.

• The past few weeks we have had a bountiful harvest of tomatoes and basil.

I roasted the tomatoes with some onions, garlic, rosemary and basil.
After they were thoroughly cool I placed them into labeled quart mason jars, leaving a 2 inch or more head space for expansion and refrigerated them.
I label my frozen foods with dates, varieties and contents so it is clear what is in the freezer.
The next day I put them into the freezer.
If I refrigerate the mason jars prior to freezing them they seem to have less breakage.

Alternatively you can completely cool the roasted tomatoes and place them in labeled freezer bags. Be sure you have completely closed the bag so that you don't have drips in your freezer.

• Basil and other leafy herbs like parsley freeze well too.

Just rinse and dry well.
Place a single layer of leaves on a cookie sheet.
Cover the herbs with wax paper or a light towel to prevent them from getting burned.
Then place the herb cookie sheet into the freezer for an hour or so.
The leaves will get rigid. This will help you measure them out easily when you need to.
Remove the cookie sheet from the freezer.
Place your herbs into a labeled and dated freezer bag or mason jars.

In the middle of winter pull out your bags and use the herbs for cooking soups, stir fries or roasted vegetables. It will bring you right back to summer's harvest.

• Berries!

My friend called to say his raspberries were prolific and would I like to harvest some. Raspberries in winter are such a treat. So I went and harvested a few quarts of berries.

Freezing berries is easy. Do the same procedure as you did with the herbs.
Rinse
Dry
Place on a cookie sheet
Cover with wax paper or a light towel
Freeze for an hour or two (this helps to keep the berries shape)
Place into labeled and dated mason jars, old milk containers or freezer bags.

Enjoy your fruit in smoothies or defrost and create a tart or pie.